It could have been worse...

[Mark Thibodeau]

I'm ashamed to say this, but the only Gaddis I've read has been JR and The
Rush for 2nd Place, a collection of essays that came out pretty much on the
heels of Agape' Agape.

If you're a fan of Gaddis' writing (or hell, just good writing in general),
and you haven't read The Rush for 2nd Place yet, you've got a seriously
tasty treat coming to you!

yer old pal Jerky


On Mon, Oct 3, 2022 at 10:52 PM Arthur Fuller <fuller.artful at gmail.com>
wrote:

> William is one of the most undersung writers of American fiction. Perhaps
> that is due to his penchant for extremely long sentences, but ok I'm a tad
> weird about this, that's what I loved! But that was just the initial grab,
> the rest was the characters he painted, and the unlikeliest of plots. JR,
> The Recognitions, etc. The man was a master craftsman.
>
> On Mon, Oct 3, 2022 at 7:26 PM rich <richard.romeo at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > me, too
> >
> > William Gaddis
> >
> >
> >
> > let them have their narrow view
> >
> > the pinched gaze
> >
> > you laid out and wrestled with the real hydra-headed tentacles:
> >
> > the law, money, revelation
> >
> >
> >
> > from the inside
> >
> > your characters, the systems themselves
> >
> > embodiments of them
> >
> > those who through their speech, you said
> >
> > constructed a conspiracy of language against us all.
> >
> >
> >
> > you had to work for it, of course
> >
> > your ambition early was evident
> >
> > you dropped a ton on them
> >
> > how could Harvard understand
> >
> > you were so far ahead
> >
> >
> >
> > and hence, banished to the wilderness of corporate speak
> >
> > you had a family, a daughter, to support
> >
> > I imagine
> >
> >
> >
> > you as William Holden in Network
> >
> > an office drunk exec passed his prime, cynical
> >
> > but human shot through and through
> >
> > with simple human decency
> >
> >
> >
> > you didn't lose
> >
> > as you saw all going mad around you
> >
> > strings and shining heads, pulled pols
> >
> > monsignors
> >
> > concerned with feeding those tentacled monsters
> >
> > you knew from experience
> >
> >
> >
> > what itook so long between missives
> >
> > you weren’t part of the easy game
> >
> > all they knew
> >
> >
> >
> > you wrote ad copy for their suits
> >
> > and nailed their connections at night
> >
> > a birds-eye view few could emulate
> >
> >
> >
> > characters easy to deconstruct
> >
> > not so complex systems
> >
> > of what knots and fancy tie look alikes.
> >
> >
> >
> > and yet, despite all that, you were funny while doing it.
> >
> >
> >
> > Of course, you were close to done before proper recognition
> >
> > Bernhard and Oblomov brought some solace
> >
> > sprinting to finish off  your life’s work, often dropped
> >
> > distilled in the end into a short rant about the mechanization of the
> arts
> >
> >
> >
> > if it wasn’t beautiful for someone, it didn’t exist
> >
> > you once wrote long ago
> >
> > you hadn’t forgotten.
> >
> >
> >
> > The awards came but your throat was now hoarse
> >
> > abiding as the artist defined as the human shambles
> >
> > following the work around
> >
> >
> >
> > you didn’t make many appearances
> >
> > you wanted to be met half-way
> >
> > how much more rewarding that is,  you said
> >
> >
> >
> > than transcribing reality
> >
> > and telling you everything so explicitly
> >
> >
> >
> > nothing hidden in the margins
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Oct 3, 2022 at 5:30 PM Arthur Fuller <fuller.artful at gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> >> I think that William Gaddis is my fave writer of all time. *JR*
> absolutely
> >> slayed me, and after that I read every word he ever published. *The
> >> Recognitions*, wow, what can I say that hasn't been said, and the few
> >> others as well.
> >>
> >> On Mon, Oct 3, 2022 at 11:24 AM Allen Ruch <quail at shipwrecklibrary.com>
> >> wrote:
> >>
> >> > Oh my God I hope this is truly an elaborate hoax! It’s a shame Gaddis
> >> > isn’t around to write a book about this…
> >> >
> >> > (But you are right…at least it wasn’t Remedios Varo!)
> >> >
> >> > —Q
> >> >
> >> > From: Pynchon-l <pynchon-l-bounces at waste.org> on behalf of Erik T.
> >> Burns <
> >> > eburns at gmail.com>
> >> > Date: Thursday, September 29, 2022 at 3:56 PM
> >> > To: pynchon -l <pynchon-l at waste.org>
> >> > Subject: It could have been worse...
> >> > it could have been a Remedios Varo...
> >> >
> >> > A Frida Kahlo Drawing Was Destroyed to Make NFTs (vice.com)
> >> > <https://www.vice.com/en/article/aken7k/rida-kahlo-nft-mexico>
> >> > --
> >> > Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
> >> > --
> >> > Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
> >> >
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >> Arthur
> >> --
> >> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
> >>
> >
>
> --
> Arthur
> --
> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>